CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek revenue falls
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which supplies mobile handset chips to China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) and Xiaomi Corp (小米), yesterday reported falling revenue for last month because of fewer working days and the effects of the slow season. Revenue declined 44.62 percent to NT$9.67 billion (US$307.5 million) last month, compared with NT$17.45 billion in January, MediaTek said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The figure was 38.52 percent lower than the previous year’s NT$15.73 billion, its lowest level in nearly two years. That brought the Hsinchu-based chipmaker’s revenue for the first two months to NT$27.13 billion, down 5.04 percent from NT$28.58 billion the previous year.
AUTOMAKERS
Yulon Nissan shares surge
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which distributes Nissan and Infiniti cars, yesterday saw its shares surge 5.45 percent to NT$300 after Yulon Group (裕隆集團) said on Thursday that it aimed to increase total annual sales by 12 percent this year to NT$400 billion. The group also said on Thursday that China would remain the world’s top market this year with sales of 25 million passenger cars, while Taiwan could see total new vehicle sales top 420,000. The group aims to sell more than 280,000 cars this year in both Taiwan and China, a company statement said.
CONGLOMERATES
Formosa Plastics’ sales drop
Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday said the combined revenue of its four major units decreased 28.8 percent year-on-year and 7.8 percent month-on-month to NT$111.38 billion last month. While Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) reported sales of NT$51.01 billion last month, up 2.9 percent from January amid rebounding crude oil prices, the other three units posted sliding sales due to lower utilization rates due to the Lunar New Year holiday. Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the group’s flagship company, reported the largest monthly decline in sales of 26 percent last month to NT$12.66 billion. It was followed by Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s (南亞塑膠) 14.7 percent decline to NT$23.32 billion and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp’s (台灣化學纖維) 9.5 percent decline to NT$24.4 billion last month.
LIGHTING
Epistar posts lower revenue
The nation’s largest LED chipmaker, Epistar Corp (晶元光電), yesterday reported monthly revenue of NT$1.86 billion (US$59.14 million) for last month, down 9.04 percent from the previous year’s NT$2.04 billion. Separately, Taiwan’s leading LED lighting and product supplier Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子), which is one of Epistar’s key customers, reported a 16.8 percent annual growth in sales to NT$2.2 billion last month. On a monthly basis, Epistar and Everlight posted sales declines of 22.82 percent and 13.38 percent respectively. In the first two months of this year, Epistar’s revenue totaled NT$4.28 billion, up 8.69 percent from the previous year, while Everlight’s revenue jumped 18.76 percent to NT$4.74 billion.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Nation’s reserves rise
The nation’s reserves amounted to US$417.83 billion as of the end of last month, an increase of US$1.92 billion from the previous month, the central bank said on Thursday. In a statement posted on its Web site, the bank attributed the increase to returns from the management of the reserves and the appreciation of the euro and other reserve currencies against the US dollar.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks